Rwanda has called the citizen to start acquiring the second booster dose of COVID19 vaccine which will kick off from Monday – August 8 with the first focus on high risk groups.
“This dose will begin to be administered at all immunization sites with a focus on adults over 60 years of age and others with weakened immune systems.” the Ministry of Health announced yesterday.
The Minister of State in the Ministry of Health, Dr Mpunga Tharcisse said that the COVID-19 evolves over time, while the treatments are being developed based on the existing virus.
“We have launched a second dose booster program of the COVID-19 vaccine starting with the elderly and those who are physically weak due to their health conditions,” he said.
Plans to provide a second booster shot for those over 60 years of age are being taken up by various countries.
The European Union (EU) recently recommended that all people over 60 years of age in its 27 member states receive a second booster vaccination against Covid-19.
In the United States of America, the first booster shot is recommended for people over the age of five, while those over the age of 50 and those over 12 with other serious illnesses are given the second.
These decisions come in line with research that has shown that receiving multiple doses of the COVID-19 vaccine reduces the risk of contracting the disease, which was recently reported to be of animal origin.
Statistics from the Ministry of Health show that 8,870,113 (97.9%) people have received two vaccines against COVID-19 in Rwanda, while 5,269,254 (58.1%) have received one booster vaccine. The number of people killed by this epidemic in Rwanda is 1466.
